Rode NT5 Matched Pair Cardioid Microphones

A matched pair of externally polarised single diaphragm condenser with a cardioid response pattern. An excellent value! Includes Rode's 10 year warranty.

Listen to this Rode before you buy using Rode's Soundbooth. Listen to the Rode collection used in a number of studio applications including Vocals, Kick Drum and Guitar, with both close and distant micing.

Learn more about this product with Rode TV, as sound designer and composer Diego Stocco shows how he designed and recorded the new DTS surround sound signature using all RØDE Microphones, including the NT5.

Rode NT5 Matched Pair Cardioid Microphones Reviews

I’m no stranger to Rode microphones, and particularly not to the NT2000 multi-pattern Large Diaphragm Condenser. I had used three different matched pairs of Rode NT5 whilst completing my BA(Hons) in Music Technology, and although I never really rated them at the time, when it came to buying an inexpensive - I deliberately did not use the word cheap – pair of small diaphragm condenser microphones, the NT5 seemed the obvious choice in terms of price/performance, so I decided to give them another shot.

The mics arrived, and after furiously unwrapping the package, I was presented with a nicely made black plastic briefcase which looks very professional, as well as having high quality clasps and hinges which look as if they will take years of service in the studio. Upon opening the case, the story continued, with high quality, thick padding foam, solid with cut-outs for the mic, windshields and clips on the bottom, and thick egg-crate foam lining the lid. I feel as though I can trust this case to protect my new investment, and that it will remain serviceable for many sessions to come.

The clips for the mics are very heavy given their size, and this is reassuring to me, as I connect mass with quality for unknown reasons. They are made from a resistant material which is hard to get the mics into, but ensure that mics stay put during a session and you’ll never have to worry about them falling out of the clips. The clips have a good range of motion, and seem very high quality, given the price of the whole package. The windscreens fit snugly and do not feel as if they will fall off during a session, although mine are bent into a most unusual shape from being stuffed into the case pockets at the factory.

Moving on to the main event, the mics are, vey much like the rest of the outfit, high quality units which are again, heavy for their size. The finish is good and looks durable, and the familiar gold dot is visible just below the capsule, although superfluous on the NT5 as it is usually reserved for marking the ‘hot’ side of the capsule on Rode large diaphragm mics. The capsule unscrews to reveal a very clean looking connector, and tidy screw thread, although this thread is plastic. The XLR connector has gold pins, and they are all different lengths, which is something I don’t think I’ve encountered before. I’m not sure the purpose behind it, but I checked on the other mic just to make sure it wasn’t a broken one, but they match. There are no markings on the body of the mic, except for a thin black band around the base of the mic body, with the RODE logo, mic model, and serial number. The two microphones I received had consecutive serial numbers, which means the capsules were numbered after matching.

I put one of the mics up on stand to do some testing, and connected it to one of my Mackie Onyx preamps, out through firewire to my macbook. I turned on the phantom power, cranked the gain, and put on my trusty cans. I thought I’d made a terrible mistake. I could hear noise, lots of it. It undulated like an alien wind, and I thought I’d just wasted my entire gear budget on a pair of horrendously noisy mics. My stomach tied itself in a knot, and I mentally prepared to return them – I had really wanted to get on with these mics as well.

Then, I heard a familiar sound. A bus, making that annoyingly loud airbrake sound they always make when they’re driving past me. I cranked up the gain, to make sure I wasn’t mistaken, and to my delight, the noise I had been hearing wasn’t noise at all – it was the sound of traffic passing my house, through triple glazing! Elated, I cranked the gain to 60dB to make sure it wasn’t noise. I heard some small birds on the other side of the road, and only the tiniest amount of noise – and that was through Mackie preamps at maximum gain! These mics are quiet, that’s an understatement, and sensitive? I live 50m from a quiet main road and if I wanted to, I’m sure I’d be able to hear programme the people across the road are watching on TV. I can’t even imagine how sensitive and detailed these will be with my favourite preamp – the DACS Clarity.

After all that, I decided to do some proper testing, on acoustic guitar. It took five minutes of experimentation to find a sound which was scarily accurate – after experimenting with very close positioning, I found that the proximity effect, coupled with the strong bass response of these mics made the sound too boomy in the bottom end, so I moved it up to the 12th fret, but again, the proximity effect due to the cardioid polar pattern made the sound too bassy to be used in a mix. I put some distance between the mic and the guitar, maybe 18 inches, and cranked the gain up. The clarity instantly increased, and I was able to track an accurate acoustic part, which revealed that I really need to change the strings on my guitar! The sound was not as neutral as using a large diaphragm omni, nor did it have the super-clarity you get with really high-end small diaphragm condensers, but for a budget-priced mic through a budget-priced preamp, it rivals the accuracy of recordings I’ve made with some very high end gear. I could definitely tell that it was my guitar, and that it was me playing it, which is not necessarily a good thing, and it revealed a lot of the left-hand squeaks and slides that make up an important part of the acoustic guitar sound. Remember this was using one mic. The sound could be described as a bit darker than anything you get from Schoeps or Neumann, but after adding a tiny amount of EQ at 10khz, the top end opened up a bit and some of the high end detail came out.
I’m absolutely convinced, that with a good preamp, these mics will open up and become much more detailed, as have all of the other Rode mics I have used, and although they will not represent all instruments well, as indeed no microphone can, they definitely have their uses and I can see them being used on lots of sessions where I need a clean, dry-ish sound with good off-axis rejection and a slightly darker tone and good low frequency response. The Rode NT5 are also killer tom mics, and although I have yet to use them on overheads, I’m sure the sound will be very serviceable, and as previously mentioned, combined with a good preamp will be an active member of my mic stable for many years to come.

I’m giving the NT5 matched pair an 8/10, because the build quality of the mics and accessories is excellent and unfaultable, the price/performance ratio is, in my opinion, unbeatable, and they offer a sound quality which is better than the price tag may suggest, especially when paired with a high quality preamp. Although there’s nothing I can think of that’s actually wrong with them, I’m afraid I can’t give them full marks after having heard the quality difference of Schoeps et al. I have absolutely no reservation in recommending the NT5 for the budget-conscious recording engineer, so try a pair out at your earliest convenience, and decide for yourself. For me, these represent the best price/performance balance for inexpensive small diaphragm condensers and they are a welcome and worthy addition to my mic cupboard. I can see them being used on a variety of sources, being durable and only improving with the rest of my signal chain. Alternatives include the Oktava MC012 if you can find a pair used, or Neumann KM184, which, although pricier than the NT5 by quite a distance, may suit your needs better and are not beyond the sensible price/performance point for a more affluent project studio.

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